# Coronavirus COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) Thread - 2020 Breaking News **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [February 11, 2020, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758 "2020-02-11T01:16:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 250
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2020, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5003 "2020-10-02T06:28:42Z")
Another link with less dancing, sadly. > **[Trump and first lady Melania test positive for coronavirus](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/01/hope-hicks-covid-19-reports-trump)** > > US election in disarray as president and first lady begin quarantine after aide contracts virus ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2020, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5004 "2020-10-02T06:32:33Z")
Nice to see you posting, **Cat\_Whisperer**. I haven’t seen you around for a while. **robby** and **enipla** , thanks for posting about the novel ways that vaccines are getting administered. I’m glad to see that people are getting innovative. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2020, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5005 "2020-10-02T09:34:35Z")
Here in the UK we have a Scottish MP who noted that she had symptoms of Covid and undertook a test. Whilst awaiting the results she then attended a debate in Parliament upon Covid and during that debate she spoke for four minutes - later that evening her results came back confirming she had Covid herself. So naturally she took a train back up to Scotland having informed her party that she was leaving because a family member was unwell - however her party bosses were later informed of the result. She now is currently under investigation for a possible breach of law and there appear to be a reasonable chance of prosecution. Her party does not have the power to dismiss her - it is claimed - perhaps there would need to be an internal investigation but she is now under pressure to resign from the party but that would just mean that she can retain her job as a Member of Parliament as an independent - it is very difficult to remove sitting MPs from their elected post except through election. > **[Margaret Ferrier: Commons speaker angry at 'reckless' Covid trip MP](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-54383281)** > > Sir Lindsay Hoyle condemns Margaret Ferrier for putting people's health at risk in the Commons and on public transport. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2020, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5006 "2020-10-02T10:51:35Z")
Yesterday saw the highest ever total number of deaths, according to [COVID - Coronavirus Statistics - Worldometer](https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/). I think that’s an artefact, though—it seems Argentina added about 3000 deaths over and above its average rate of ~400 deaths/day. Does anybody know the story here? ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2020, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5007 "2020-10-02T16:20:07Z")
Ronna Romney McDaniel, the Chairwoman of the Republican Party, has tested positive. The entire White House staff, and Jim Jordan, and Individual 1’s family, minus Barron, all traveled together with Hope Hicks on Air Force One to the debate. Everybody is scrambling to get tested. Individual 1, after learning that he had been exposed by Hope Hicks, but before the results of his own test were known, went to an indoor meet and greet at his country club in New Jersey, without a mask. And Kayleigh McEnany held a press conference yesterday after learning she had been exposed. Giuliani and Christie were in a closed room with Individual 1 doing debate prep, so they, too, have been exposed. And Mark Meadows, Individual 1’s chief of staff, who has also been exposed, held a press briefing this morning without a mask ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2020, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5008 "2020-10-02T16:23:07Z")
I was ruminating on this situation while I did some dishes this morning; what does this do to the upper levels of the Republican party (in terms of the bunch of them who don’t wear masks or take precautions)? Why did Tr\*mp tweet the truth instead of hiding it and pretending it was something else? Does Mike Pence run for president if Tr\*mp is incapacitated? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2020, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5009 "2020-10-02T17:25:56Z")
A quick web search seems to show that the party would nominate another person to run for president. That very well ccould be the current veep-nominee, in which case, the party would also need to nominate another veep-candidate. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2020, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5010 "2020-10-02T17:31:12Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Why did Tr\*mp tweet the truth instead of hiding it and pretending it was something else? Because there’s no way to keep that under wraps. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2020, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5011 "2020-10-02T17:35:46Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > A quick web search seems to show that the party would nominate another person to run for president. That very well ccould be the current veep-nominee, in which case, the party would also need to nominate another veep-candidate. One wonders how this would work, given that many (most?) states have already begun early and mail-in voting. I would also suspect that the states have deadlines for finalizing who is on the ballot which have already passed. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2020, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5012 "2020-10-02T17:49:42Z")
Jonathan Karl of ABC News just said that apparently Hope Hicks is very sick. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2020, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5013 "2020-10-02T23:54:55Z")
Cite? I’d like to see this. (Seriously, not being sarcastic) ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2020, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5014 "2020-10-03T00:01:07Z")
Never mind, found it. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2020, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5015 "2020-10-03T02:27:59Z")
Kellyanne Conway has tested positive. > **[Kellyanne tests positive for COVID as daughter Claudia posts anti-Trump rant](https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/12834956/trump-coronavirus-kellyanne-conway-claudia-tiktok-coughing-daughter/)** > > KELLYANNE Conway has tested positive for coronavirus on the same day President Donald Trump was hospitalized with the disease. The 53-year-old tweeted on Friday night that she’s experiencing … ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2020, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5016 "2020-10-03T04:09:48Z")
34,831,044 total cases 1,033,235 dead 25,895,323 recovered In the US: 7,549,323 total cases 213,524 dead 4,776,824 recovered Yesterday’s numbers for comparison: > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 34,481,663 total cases > 1,027,653 dead > 25,670,610 recovered > > In the US: > > 7,494,671 total cases > 212,660 dead > 4,736,621 recovered ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2020, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5017 "2020-10-04T04:05:00Z")
35,133,084 total cases 1,037,974 dead 26,123,479 recovered In the US: 7,600,846 total cases 214,277 dead 4,818,509 recovered Yesterday’s numbers for comparison: > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 34,831,044 total cases > 1,033,235 dead > 25,895,323 recovered > > In the US: > > 7,549,323 total cases > 213,524 dead > 4,776,824 recovered ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2020, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5018 "2020-10-04T04:05:49Z")
Kinda eerie how the breaking news on this subject is now all in other threads. The rest of the world has to deal with it too still… ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2020, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5019 "2020-10-04T09:21:09Z")
The rest of the world is just as glued to our seats watching the Rose Garden Cluster Fallout as you are, believe me! ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2020, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5020 "2020-10-04T19:56:48Z")
We have a [previous thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/africa-and-covid-19/850785/25) about COVI-19 in Africa. Update there, per 91-divoc, is that rates of infection and of deaths continue to be extremely low. And [this](https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/09/29/science.abd7672) Science article about the status of COVI-19 in India has been discussed in the Opening Schools thread otherwise but one part of the findings of that article, pulled out [in this post](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-schools/854247/1175), deserves I think to highlighted as part of broader “news”. Why? Because one of the reasons to have possibly not been too surprised at relatively low rates in Africa an India was the shape of their population pyramids: more youth and fewer old folk will mean lower death and severe disease rates, possibly more whose disease is mild enough to never get diagnosed, and IF kids are relatively poorer transmitters, less spread. And while the numbers out of India confirm that the skew is part of the explanation, they also are broken down by age group. In each age group rates of disease are only 20 to 30% of U.S. rates. Similarly much lower mortality rates by age group for most age groups as well. The complete answer for why relatively fewer cases and deaths in those two regions that were at big risk for many other reasons, is more than fewer high risk old folk to get sick. This does not clarify which proposed other factor is the biggest one, but at least one of them must be. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2020, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5021 "2020-10-04T20:24:36Z")
This article is fascinating, suggesting that due to the way COVID-19 spreads in clusters (possibly because of super-spreaders), we need to change the way we test and contact trace. Among other things, he suggests rather than doing forward tracing with the intent of finding the people the patient may have infected, that we concentrate on backward tracing - trying to find the source of the patient’s infection. > **[This Overlooked Variable Is the Key to the Pandemic](https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/09/k-overlooked-variable-driving-pandemic/616548/)** > > It’s not R. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2020, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/5022 "2020-10-05T04:04:00Z")
35,398,976 total cases 1,041,823 dead 26,623,375 recovered In the US: 7,636,912 total cases 214,611 dead 4,849,038 recovered Yesterday’s numbers for comparison: > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 35,133,084 total cases > 1,037,974 dead > 26,123,479 recovered > > In the US: > > 7,600,846 total cases > 214,277 dead > 4,818,509 recovered [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=249) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=251)